OnePlus Power Bank VS Xiaomi Power Bank

OnePlus, a Chinese smart phone manufacturer, got famous because of its One. The first smart phone which the company manufactured helped the name of the company grab the front page news. This happened because OnePlus One offers specs of a flagship phone at a very affordable price.

Xiaomi, another Chinese manufacturer, got famous in a similar kind of fashion. It came out with entry level smart phones with specs more than any other manufacturer provided at that time. Also, it priced its products very reasonably. Slowly it began expanding its range of devices and the journey began. Now, Xiaomi has a wide range of smart phones in almost every category.

But it wasn’t enough for Xiaomi to just stick to smart phones. It launched its own power bank and named it “Mi”. This product sold in high numbers because of its affordable price. Following the steps of Xiaomi, OnePlus is now ready to enter the power bank market by launching its own power bank which is simply called OnePlus Power Bank. Now, let us take a look at both of these products.

Design

OnePlus Power Bank is simply beautiful. It has a sleek and compact build. As it is a 10,000 mAh unit therefore, it is large but for that capacity it is pretty compact. The finishing material of the product is good and it feels premium and polished. It feels good to hold but it is definitely a bit heavy because of its large capacity. It has a nice curved edge to give a good grip onto it and it also enhances the overall looks of the device.

There are two full size USB ports and a single micro USB port. The full size ports will allow you to plug in two devices simultaneously for charging. The one micro USB port is meant to charge the power bank itself. It also has several battery indicator LEDs that can be woken up by a simple shake of the device. There is a small OnePlus logo on the front of the power bank which is simple yet elegant. That’s about it. OnePlus has kept the design of its power bank as minimalistic as possible and we really like it.

Xiaomi has also done a good job in designing its Mi power bank. The device feels rugged. Its surface is finished in smooth plastic which feels nice in hand. It has a brand logo at the bottom of the front portion. The chamfered edges allow a good grip to the power bank and also make it look simple. At the bottom of the device there are some details regarding the power bank itself. At the top there is a button and LED lights which lights up when you charge a device or when the power bank is being charged itself. Being a 10,400 mAh power bank it is very compact. It weighs almost similar to that of the OnePlus Power Bank.

Unlike the OnePlus Power Bank, Xiaomi Mi only has one full size USB port for charging your smart phones, tablets etc. and a single micro USB port to charge the power bank itself. Although, the amount of time required to fully charge a device depends on many factors like quality of charging cable, quality of power bank, type of circuit in the device, etc. Xiaomi says that the Mi power bank can provide 2.1A power if other necessities are fulfilled.

Availability

Xiaomi Mi Power Bank is already available in India. It is sold only by the online retailer Flipkart. Thankfully you don’t have to register yourself for a flash sale in order to get one. But still it usually runs out of stock pretty soon because of its affordable price. Also, Xiaomi is offering two power banks of different capacities – 5000 mAh and 10,000 mAh.

OnePlus has launched its Power Bank in the US but it hasn’t reached our shores yet. It is being anticipated that we will get it by the end of first week of April 2015. We hope that OnePlus would fulfill its promise before the deadline. We aren’t anticipating OnePlus to price its power bank much higher than that of the Xiaomi’s. The prices would be similar. Considering the response and faith which OnePlus has gathered with its One here in India, we think that the Power Bank would sell in good numbers. Well, let’s just wait and see what happens.

Kundan Srivastava is very passionate about technology. He writes about the latest in the tech domain, right from devices to innovations. You can follow him through the buttons below. View all posts by Kundan Srivastava →

Xiaomi Mi 10,400 mAh power bank doesn’t have 2 full-sized USB port. Only 1 for charging other devices and 1 micro-USB port for charging the power bank. Power bank charging speed depends on quality of cable as well as the adapter used. A 2A adapter, mostly those used to charge tablets will charge the power bank in 4-6 hours while a 1A adapter that normally comes with smartphones charge it in 10-12 hours.